Japanese tech giant Sony has unveiled a fresh flagship smartphone, the Xperia XZ.

Announced at the IFA conference in Berlin, Sony's latest and greatest handset moves away from the "Z Series" moniker and brings a bunch of new improvements while retaining some of the best features of its predecessor, the Xperia Z5 - such as a IP68 dust-tight, waterproof design.

The Xperia XZ boasts a 5.2-inch Full-HD 1080p display in a “loop surface” design, which Sony says offers a "perfect hand fit" due to its curved edges.

It measures 8.1mm thick and weighs 161g. This is also the first Sony device that features the new Type-C USB charging port, meaning, annoyingly, your old charging cables won’t work with it.

(Image: Lee Bell)

On the inside there’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of storage depending on the model you opt for.

As for taking snaps, Sony’s latest smartphone features a 13MP front-facing camera for selfies, and a 23MP rear snapper, which is capable of recording 4K videos.

The rear camera features what Sony is calling "triple image sensing technology", which helps improve focusing on subjects and sensing the distance between objects to help improve digital stabilisation, picture and colour quality, and auto-focus speeds.

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However, perhaps the XZ’s most unique feature is its intelligent battery charge, a software improvement that sees the smartphone learning your charging habits.

While left plugged-in, charging overnight for instance, the XZ won’t charge further than 90%, but will complete the rest of the charge towards the time it estimates you will begin using it, for example, an hour or so before you wake up, when your alarm is set.

This, Sony said, is to minimise damage to battery cells, so that it lasts longer over time.

It does this by controlling the liquid current going into cells so damage to them is decreased to “double the battery span life” over time.

(Image: Lee Bell)

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Sony said this update is a response to customer upset over the wear and tear of their smartphone battery after a few years of heavy use, and should see their batteries lasting much longer, delaying the need for an upgrade.

The Xperia XZ will be available in black, platinum and blue colour options from early October. Pricing is yet to be announced.

Alongside the XZ, Sony will also be launching the Xperia X Compact, a slightly smaller 4.6-inch version of the flagship smartphone. This will be available at the end of September in black, white and misty blue colour options.